I will protect
by GwenuitHolland
Summary: The story told by Fakir. The entire story through Fakir's eyes. What were his thoughts? How did he come from hating Ahiru to trust her? In the Anime most of Fakir's thoughts are not revealed, here's your chance to find out! A Fakir and Ahiru story, please review!
1. 1Akt Der Nussknacker: Blumenwalze

I will protect….

Once upon a time, there was a man who died. The last story the man was working on was about a brave and handsome prince who vanquishes a crafty raven. When the man died, the raven and the prince escaped from within the story. The prince took out his own heart to seal away the raven, but this power which had been granted solely to him was nevertheless forbidden. Thus sealed, the raven troubled them no more, but the prince's heart was shattered and scattered all over town. Ever since then, stories and reality have intermingled in the town, making it world where the fantastical was no longer fantastical.

1Akt ~Der Nussknacker: Blumenwalze ~

He was a knight riding towards a battle. His heart was telling him to hurry and so he did. His prince was waiting for his loyal services. The town through which he was riding was in ruins, that nasty beast had really done a number on it. Doors closed and people cowered away as the young man passed them.

'Morons, I'm not the one they should fear.' The young man thought, annoyed by his own panic. 'Please, be still alive!'  
An evil laughter rang like thunder through the air. It came from a dark shadow that spread it's huge wings over the town, blocking out all light and hope.  
The knight made his horse go even faster and sped towards it. Arrived, he jumped off his steed, that ran on in fright. There he was, the noble prince, standing forlorn in the shadow of the enormous beast. The knight watched him in wonder as he saw reddish sparks slowly fade away in front of the prince. The prince stared at them with great sadness.

'What is that? Could that have been Princess Tutu?' The knight wondered. If that was true then the knight knew that all hope had failed them. 'What can we do now?'  
Then the raven spoke and confirmed the knight's fears.

"Princess Tutu has fallen, what can you do now, prince? Just give me your heart."

The prince showed no fear and said: "If it is my heart you want, I shall give it to you, but not before I use it to seal you away!"

The knight had to watch hopelessly as the prince took out his sword and placed it at his heart.

"Mytho stop! You know it's forbidden!" Fakir yelled but he knew he could not stop his friend.

I'm sorry Fakir, this is the only way." Mytho pierced his sword through his chest with one motion and shattered his heart into pieces. As the brave prince fell and the heart-shards shot away like red stars, the raven let out a terrible scream that shook the earth.

"Mytho!" In blind grief and rage, Fakir launched himself at the raven. The beast was in pain and started to fade away, but not before he got the knight too. With its claw the raven ripped the young knight in half.  
the last thing the knight remembered was an intense pain and the sound of his own scream.

This tragedy could never happen again, or could it?...

Fakir woke up shaking and sweating from the same nightmare he always had, as long as he could remember. In spite of most people, Fakir knew what the dream meant. His foster father had told him when he was very young. His friend, Mytho was the prince from a story, written by a man named Drosselmayer. This man had the power to write stories that continued after his death, but the characters got tired of their battle and they escaped from the pages of the story. The prince ended the battle by taking out his own heart to seal the raven away.  
with a shattered heart scattered away, the prince forgot who he was and he lost all his emotions. Fakir, being the reincarnation of the prince's loyal friend and servant found him again. At first he tackled along, being the young boy that he was, but Mytho's lack of emotions caused him to do really reckless things and so Fakir vowed to protect him. This time he would protect Mytho.

Fakir got up and automatically looked at the bed at the other side of the room he and his best friend shared. It was empty. "That idiot" Growled Fakir as he stood up and hurried about to fresh himself up and get himself ready for school, for there would Mytho be.

Fakir stalked through the corridors of the Ballet Academy and almost had made it to the classroom in which they usually had their lessons when he heard a voice. It was not Mytho's voice but a very loud annoying blabbering one from a girl. This didn't exactly improve Fakir's mood. He kept behind the door and listened. The noise from the girl had just stopped, the only word Fakir heard clearly was 'weird'.

'Sure you're weird.' Thought Fakir. This was just another of Mytho's fan-girls. Then his friend spoke and said to the girl that he didn't think her weird. This conversation could only get more annoying from this point now that he had encouraged that stupid girl.  
Fakir opened the door and walked in.

"Fakir." Said Mytho vaguely.

"Didn't I tell you to inform me when you go out?"

"Yes." Replied Mytho with no emotion at all.

"We're leaving, stand up." Fakir said firmly, but Mytho didn't stand up. Something seemed wrong.

"What's wrong?" Fakir asked a little worried.

"My foot."

"Foot? Did you twist it?"

"Hmm."

"Idiot."

Then the girl began to yell and Fakir looked at her. She was a small girl of the age of thirteen with a plain appearance. She had red hair that she had tight up in a headband for today's ballet practice. Her plain ballet outfit told him that she was part of the lower class.  
Quite unnecessarily, she began to explain what had happened. "Ehm, ehm, it was my fault. He saved me when I tripped so… "

"What were you thinking? Doing such as pointless thing?" Fakir asked Mytho right through the girl's story.

"Like I said, he was protecting me.. "

"That's why I said 'pointless'." Fakir grabbed Mytho's hand and dragged him onto his feet. "Stand up, we're going back." Now he was truly annoyed.

"You don't have to be so rough with him!" Yelled the girl after him.

"Quite!" Fakir shouted back and he closed the door behind him.

The rest of the day Fakir made sure Mytho stayed in bed. His injury was minor, but when you use your feet for ballet, it is important to take every injury seriously. After a while watching over his sleeping friend, he got bored. He needed to stretch his legs and left the boy's dormitory for a walk around town.  
When he wanted to re-enter the boy's dormitory, however, he found his path being blocked by the girl from before. She was acting weird and annoying again by hitting herself on the head and calling herself a coward.

"You're in my way." Fakir said.

The girl turned around, she looked offended, but when she saw it was him, her manner became quiet and polite. "Oh ehm, is senior Mytho?..."

'That nonsense again?' "He's not here." Fakir said as he passed her.

Now the girl was offended again and once again she began to yell at him. "Yeah, so where?.."

"Go home." Fakir wanted to shut the door behind him, but the girl was too quick and with a muffled bang she got herself stuck between the door and the doorpost.

"How's his injury?" She asked him with a painful face.

"It's not serious." He replied, beaten by her persistence.

"I like to apologize." The girl said.

"There's no need."

The girl freed herself from the door and stood up. "Are you like this to everyone you talk to?" She asked him challengingly and Fakir closed the door. He climbed up the stairs and got to his room. He tried to forget what just had happened. When he opened the door he saw Mytho sitting on the windowsill. Clearly he had seen everything and he had watched the girl leave.

"Mytho."

"Fakir."

"Haven't I told you to stay in bed?'

"Sorry." Said Mytho without any real feeling of regret.

"Is your foot hurting?" Fakir tried to sound nice for once, but he already knew the answer he would get.

"I don't know."

That's it, that was the answer he always got and really, it set his teeth on edge. He sighed. "What a retch you are, you're far too slow and utterly useless. As for helping others, you would do best, to forget such notions."

"Yes."

"All you need to do is listen to what I tell you."

"Yes." Replied Mytho and he stared at him with his empty eyes. Fakir allowed himself to relax and sank into a chair. This day was truly annoying.

**AN: Hey it's me! I had this idea for a long time and now that I finally can write it, it proves to be very difficult. Especially in the first ones, because Fakir repeats himself a few times and doesn't do much else, but I'll figure it out. I won't quote everything, I promise you that, that will become boring, but I like the first conversations between Duck and fakir so much that I quoted it literally. Oh and I know that the raven first killed the knight and then he got sealed away by Mytho, but I thought it possible for a dream to go slightly different. This way Fakir could see it happen.**

**Question: Should I call Ahiru/Duck Ahiru or Duck. It makes more sense to call her Duck, but want this story to fit with my Princess Tutu 2 story and in that story I called her Ahiru. Please help me out! And also please review! :) **


	2. 2 Akt Schwanensee: Scene final

**AN: Thank you so much for the reviews, yes I knew this story was not going to be very new, but I got some ideas to change that, thanks to my first review. I thought it was a very harsh one at first but it got me thinking, so thank you.  
The other reviews were very sweet and thank you your suggestions on Ahiru/Duck. Only problem, I have one vote for Duck and the other for Ahiru. But I still got time till her name comes up, so keep up the suggestions :)**

2 Akt ~Schwanensee: Scene final ~

The next day, the school found itself in an uproar. It seemed Mytho had agreed to go out with an actual anteater. This may sound very strange, but in Gold Crown Town, half of the villagers were talking animals and it was considered to be normal. But this particular event seemed to surprise everyone, for no one had forgotten the difference between species. On top of that Mytho was very popular, according to the girls only one girl was good enough for him. Her name was Rue and she was the top student of the Special class. She was quiet, but at the same time demanding, like a real princess. Her dark red-brown eyes let out hardly more emotion than Mytho's and therefore they were considered to be a perfect match.

Normally Fakir didn't care for gossip, but he wished Mytho could keep a low profile for once. He found his friend on the indoor bridge, alongside the school grounds. Even though Mytho would certainly not understood, Fakir couldn't help but speak his mind.

"What were you thinking? Dumping Rue like that? You're terrible."

"Am I?" Asked Mytho, without looking away from the large garden.

"Because you don't understand how people feel, it's why you do things like that."

"I'm sorry."

"Idiot, that's how it should be." Mumbled Fakir more to himself. 'You were meant to be this way, it's for the best.'

The day got more messed up with their first lesson of the day from Mr Cat. He had planned a test in order to place people in the proper class. These tests were regular and it rarely happened that someone got the success to be placed in the Special class or failed and was dropped to the Probation class. The Special class had a strict number of five and it became soon clear that this anteater, Anteaterina, was planning to throw Rue from her top place in the class. She challenged Rue directly and danced a daring Part de Deux with Mytho in which she danced the man's part. Fakir watched it with a half eye. This anteater was so desperate for some unknown reason, it was pathetic. When they were finally done dancing, the anteater sneered at Rue that she didn't have a partner anymore, so she couldn't compete.  
Rue was proud, as far as Fakir was concerned too proud, and she stood up. For a moment Fakir thought she was going to try to dance a Part de Deux alone, but then she asked someone from the group of girls from the lower class to dance with her. It was the obnoxious girl from yesterday and her reaction was once again noisy.

Fakir was truly surprised that she didn't cowardly refuse and wondered where this would lead. The girl was shaking from head to toe. Now that Fakir got a good look at her, he saw that she had absolutely no figure, apart from a skinny waist and a round butt, that she stuck out awkwardly. She didn't look at all like a good dancer, but Fakir was somewhat relieved to see that she knew this. Maybe it was worth to watch.  
They began their dance, Rue looked peacefully and in her place, but the girl had screwed up her face in concentration and tried to follow Rue's lead. She startled a little every time Rue made a different move and she couldn't stand on point. The girl couldn't do a thing gracefully and when the point came where the girl had to jump, it looked so incorrect and strange that Fakir looked away, in case he might laugh at this absurd dance.

At some point fakir began to watch them again and he had to admit that the longer they danced, the happier the girl got. She was radiating joy, the thing that the anteater could not do. For the first time Fakir didn't think that the redhead was annoying, but even a little bit cute.  
As the music piece ended and Rue helped the girl in the last pose a silence fell over the entire class. No one seemed to have words for what they just had witnessed. Fakir slowly brought his hands together and started the applause.

After class Fakir went to the library, to return the books Mytho had finished and to read some books himself. All books he read were linked with Mytho in some way. Books that also had been written by Drosselmayer, books with the same kind of endings, books about mysterious powers. None of these books had helped him so far in his quest to return Mytho to his story. Mytho could not stay here, in Gold Crown Town he could not have a heart no matter what, but if he returned to the story… Even though all the hours at the library didn't bring him the information he needed, it had become a sort of comfort zone for him. It made him calm, to read someone else's story. Finally, after an hour or two, he left the library to find Mytho. Just an inkling told him to look in the school grounds and his inkling proved to be right. Mytho was standing next to a little bridge over a small creek.  
Fakir called his name, but Mytho didn't respond and Fakir knew that something was wrong. He hurried to his friend's side, just in time to catch him before he fell.

"Mytho what's wrong?" Fakir asked shocked.

"What is this feeling, I don't understand." Said Mytho confused.

"A feeling?" Fakir frowned. Mytho didn't have feelings, they were shattered like his heart. Fakir didn't understand, but he noticed that Mytho was clutching his chest, at the place where his heart should have been.

'What is the meaning of this? Did he suddenly regain some of his feelings?' Fakir wondered.

**AN: I know nothing special yet, but this chapter pictured how Fakir sees Ahiru, right now. In the next chapter there will be more Fakir and unknown scenes, but I don't know all of it yet. Please review on this chapter though!**


	3. 3 Akt Dornröschen: Panorama

3. Akt. ~Dornröschen: Panorama~

Something strange had happened yesterday and Fakir just couldn't let it go. 'What is this feeling?' had Mytho asked, but Mytho doesn't have feelings, that's why he cannot understand how most things work. Did something happen? Did he come across some of his feelings, but how can that be possible? Did someone gave it to him? If that was the case he had to find this person and make it stop before it was too late. Fakir gritted his teeth as he watched himself in the mirror of the bath room.

"Mytho doesn't need a heart, he's fine the way he is. Everything is as it should be." He told the mirror. Lost in thought, he touched his old birth-mark that ran from his left shoulder to his right leg. The mark that showed him how the knight from the Prince and the Raven had died. With a sigh he went to get himself dressed. When he was ready and wanted to wake Mytho, he couldn't find him. This was not good, what if he got more of his feelings back?  
Fakir hurried to the school, where he checked every room. It was no official school-day so the building was empty, but it was always possible for students to use the classrooms for some extra practice and in one of the rooms he found the redheaded girl. She was not exactly the one he wanted to see, but she was kind of nosy around Mytho, so maybe she could be of some use to him.

"Hey have you seen Mytho around?" He asked directly, but he stayed by the door and did not enter the room.

"Is something the matter with senior Mytho?" asked the girl suspiciously.

"He went out without even telling me about it."

"Gee, who cares about that? He's Rue's boyfriend after all." Answered the girl.

"What!" Fakir walked into the room very fast. "So he is with Rue? Where did they go, tell me!"

"I-I don't know." Stuttered the girl, she was clearly scared, but Fakir didn't care.

"Don't lie to me!" He warned her.

"It's the truth!" The girl cowered away. Fakir had to assume that she spoke the truth. 'So much for her information.' Fakir thought and he walked away. Then the girl asked an unexpected question: "Say um, do you happen to know the story of the Prince and the Raven?"

"A tale for children and nothing more." Replied Fakir without looking at her. He didn't feel like talking to this clueless girl who was no different from the rest of the school.

Mytho was nowhere to be found in the school-grounds, so Fakir went home to get his horse. On horse-back he could cover more ground, Gold Crown Town was a big town with everything a town needs. It had all shops imaginable and a large park. The town had also a few schools, a museum, a library and a theatre. Fakir didn't exactly know where to look, he never had taken the time to get to know Rue and therefor didn't know what she liked to do. The only places he was sure they wouldn't be, were the playgrounds and the library. Fakir began his search at the big square at the centre of the town, where almost all the shops were. He went through every aisle twice, but Rue and Mytho weren't there, so fakir set off to the Art museum, which was right across the square.  
For an art museum it was quite noisy and packed with couples. Fakir strolled down the aisles with paintings and got more irritated by the minute. Then his eye caught a very interesting painting and he halted to look at it. It was a painting of an town, caught in a snow globe. The background was painted dark blue and there were black figures framing the snow globe.  
'Is that supposed to be Gold Crown Town?' Wondered Fakir and he and he tried to see more detail in the painted town. It certainly looked the same. Then he looked more closely to the figures in the corners of the painting. The figure at the right of the snow globe was wearing a crown and a sword, another figure in the left corner was also wearing a sword, but instead of a crown did it have a clock. Each figure was flanked by a bird. The bird flying above the knight was big and threatening and seemed to be attacking the knight who had his sword raised in defence. The bird at the prince's side however was very small and innocent, it was a duck and it was also wearing a crown.

"Why a duck?" Whispered Fakir in surprise.

"May those who accept their fate granted happiness, may those who defy it granted glory." Spoke a misty voice from behind.  
Fakir turned around to see a tall skinny woman with green hair. Her skin was almost white and she had heavy-lidded eyes with very long eyelashes. As strange as she looked, Fakir wondered more about what she just had said. "What do you mean? Who are you?" He wanted to know.

"I am Edel. Destiny is a truth, it is written and cannot be changed. However one who has the will to defy it can try."

"Ahah." Muttered Fakir and he looked back to the painting. The vicious raven had its claws outstretched in an attack on the knight, ready to rip him in two. "Glory huh?"

"A story can be a generous event, each time it is told anew, the characters have a new chance of succeeding, roles can change."

"Are you saying I can change my role in the story?" Fakir turned around again to face the woman, but his question remained unanswered for the woman had gone. Fakir looked around, but he couldn't see her anywhere.

'How can she vanish like that?' He looked once more at the painting. The princess was standing right next to the raven. 'What did it mean?' this painted didn't make any sense.

Suddenly Fakir remembered that he was supposed to look for Mytho and he left the Art museum quickly to continue his search. His next guess was the park, but he was not pleased to find only Rue there. He drove his horse close to the tree under which Rue appeared to be sleeping.

"Where did Mytho go?" He asked her directly.

"I don't know." Replied Rue, as usual she was trying to play him, but Fakir wasn't fooled.

"Don't ever take him out without telling me."

Rue stood up and took her time to clean her skirt of grass and leaves. "Mytho doesn't belong to you."

"Nor to you." Fakir passed for a moment. He thought it would be best to tell her, she was after all the only person who could understand. "Mytho mentioned a feeling."

"What's that?" asked Rue surprised, clearly she hadn't noticed anything.

"Where is Mytho? " Repeated Fakir.

"He went to get some water and hasn't come back yet."

"By himself?"

Rue looked at him in a sneering sort of way. "Who else would he be going with? This isn't like you at all, what are you so frantic about?"

This was a waste of time, even if Rue did care about Mytho she would never help him, she was too proud for that, but Fakir was wrong. Just as he was about to ride on, Rue offered to come along.  
There was no way Rue could keep up with the horse so Fakir stepped off and walked the rest of the way. The only lead that they had was that Mytho went somewhere to get water. There were plenty of houses around and a little stream nearby, but if he had taken the water from here he would have returned by now. The park ended on the other side of town. It was a calm peaceful place, but there were hardly any houses and only one restaurant.

"That's it, Mytho must have asked for some water there." Said Rue delighted and she quickened her pace.

Finally they found Mytho standing in the courtyard of the restaurant. He was staring at his hands, clearly something had happened here.

"Mytho what are you doing here?" asked Fakir pissed. Mytho didn't have any water with him, so he guessed something else had brought him there.

"Nothing." Muttered Mytho.

Well it wasn't an 'I don't know', but it wasn't an improvement. "So what happened Mytho?" Fakir asked again.

"Princess Tutu, she appeared and touched me."

"Princess Tutu?" repeated Fakir confused, this wasn't what he had expected.

"That's ridiculous, that's just a story." Said Rue. "Though blessed with beauty, cleverness and strength, she is still a princess fated never to be with her prince. When she confesses her love, she turns into a speck of light and vanishes."

"I know the story, what are you getting at?" Asked Fakir suspicious.

"Nothing." Said Rue and she giggled softly.

**AN: Sorry guys, I've hurt my hand and so it took a while for me to type this. I hope you like this chapter, please review!**


	4. 4 Akt Giselle

4. Akt.~ Giselle ~

Mytho began to act strange in the days afterwards. He asked a lot of questions and seemed to be a lot in thought. Fakir thought this strange, Mytho never questioned anything before, but now…

"What were you thinking?' Fakir therefor asked Mytho when he caught him staring into the distance.

"What?"

"Just now, what were you thinking?" repeated Fakir firmly.

"Someone, someone is calling to me." Said Mytho vaguely. "I don't know who it is, but I feel like I can understand what that person's thinking. The need to see someone, feelings that I have too. Could this possibly be what it feels like to be lonely?"

'What it feels like to be lonely?' Fakir was right, Mytho did have some of his feelings back and he was getting more eager to find more. No, that cannot happen! Fakir had to do something, he dragged his fiend to the mirror and took his face firmly in his right hand so that Mytho was forced to look at his own reflection.

Fakir yelled at him, he had to make Mytho understand what it meant to become like this.  
"Is it fun recalling such emotions?" he asked. "Does it feel good Mytho?"

"No." said Mytho and for once he sounded truly honest.

"Right, you have no need for a heart Mytho. None whatsoever, if you were to regain such a think…."

"If I were…." Mumbled Mytho uncertainly.

"Don't fall for such a fool's hope, got that?"

"Yes."

"Speak louder." Insisted Fakir, he wanted Mytho to mean it.

"Understood, I'll do as you say Fakir."

"Good." Fakir released his grip and let Mytho go. 'As it should be.'

That afternoon Rue had taken Mytho for her own again. Fakir found them in the school grounds at the white arbour. Mytho was the one who was talking and that wasn't normal.

"Rue!" Fakir called as he walked towards them. "Would you please stop making him recall stupid things." All this pretending to be in love. Rue was always talking about feelings around Mytho and Fakir didn't like it.  
"Mytho, go back to your room."

"Ok." Said Mytho and he immediately left. It was good to know that Mytho stayed true to his word and did as Fakir told him.

"You better not be the person who's helping him trace up these weird things." Fakir said to Rue as soon as Mytho had gone."

"Oh Please." Replied Rue in her usual playful manner, once again she didn't look at him.

"Who else you're saying could have done it." Pressed Fakir on.

Rue giggled sneeringly and looked at him. "Maybe it was Princess Tutu from the fairy tale." She said. "Maybe she appeared in real life."

"Quiet!" snapped Fakir. "Try to stay away from Mytho from now on."

In a blink of an eye Rue was on her feet to confront him. "Stop trying to order me around!" She yelled.

In silence they stared at one another without moving a muscle. Rue would not back down, she was too proud for that.

"Whatever." Said Fakir and he turned away from her. He decided to take a leaf from Mytho's book and went to school to practise. He had to clear his head and calm down and dancing had always been the perfect way to do that.  
Once arrived at the school, he found that the room that was usually their classroom was in use by a class, and a very noisy one at that! Fakir checked a few rooms until he found one empty and open for use. First he went to the boy's changing room to put on his Ballet cloths and to put his regular cloths in his locker. Every dance room had not only a piano, but also a music box in case there was no pianist available or if the song in question had to be the recorded original. The music collection, next to the music box was vast and it was absolutely no problem to find your personal favourite in it.  
For Fakir this was Beethoven's Egmont Overture. It had all the rage he was feeling and also the depth of his problems and feelings. So Fakir began to dance and when he was dancing he was light on his feet, nothing could catch him or reach out to him. In his dance he was strong, nothing could come past him and nothing could hurt him. If only he could always be this strong, then he would be truly able to protect Mytho.  
'Mytho is regaining his heart and everything will change. A change that I cannot stop. Is my part in this story really that insignificant? Can't I change anything and is my destiny to die at the claws of the Raven? Why can't Mytho understand? Am I the only one who wants to change this cursed tale?' The piece reached its dramatic climax and as always, Fakir finished his dance with the mime for death.

"That was really excellent, Mr Fakir." Said Mr Cat who had appeared at the door. Fakir hadn't even noticed the door opening.

"Thank you. "he said politely and he walked towards his teacher.

"That dance had a lot of emotion and the music was a very interesting choice, I dare say." Mr Cat looked at Fakir, somewhat intrigued. "You have a lot on your mind?"

"What do you mean by that?" Asked Fakir, not in particularly curious.

"People lay their hearts bare while dancing, it is a way to express your feelings most truthfully." Explained Mr Cat. "Your dance emanated a great struggle and also uncertainty. Is there something you want to talk about?"

Fakir thought for a moment. He had clearly exposed himself in front of Mr Cat, so there was no point in denying.  
"Mr Cat, do you think that even a small thing can make a difference?"

"I'm not sure, nature shows us that everything has its purpose, however small. Whether one creature on its own has as much impact, however, I don't know. A feeling can start very small, but can do great things. Love brought Romeo and Juliet happiness and courage, in the end it also killed them en brought peace to their people."

"Where are you going with this?" asked Fakir, in truth he didn't want to hear about the impact of feelings. He already knew this. For Mytho they would lead to tragedy and for himself they would lead to his death.

"What I am trying to say is that every small thing can make a difference as long as they have the will, but you cannot do it alone."

"Why not?"

"Love alone didn't cause the peace in the story of Romeo and Juliet and one ant can't change the circle of life. You need someone to give you strength, someone you know you can trust. Maybe someone you care about and want to protect." With that Mr cat took his leave.

'So I cannot change anything by myself huh?' thought Fakir on his way to the changing room. Fakir had no one besides Mytho who he cared for, but not someone who could actually understand him. He cared about his foster father, but he didn't really understand Fakir, nor did any other family relative he had. Right now he had only Mytho at his side, but how could Mytho give him strength? Mytho caused him only to worry.  
'Maybe Mytho gave me the strength to change things after all.' Fakir thought. Yes, that made sense. Mytho trusted Fakir and let him protect him, but what about trust? Mytho trusted Fakir, but could he trust Mytho? Mytho always ran off without telling him and he seemed to trust a lot of people lately, like that redheaded brat.  
'Does this mean that I have to cooperate with someone other than Mytho?' Fakir wondered, 'Only Rue knows Mytho's secret, but she would never help. As the chances are now she _is _the one causing all this by restoring Mytho's heart. No, I will protect Mytho and I will do it alone. I always did.'

**AN: Finally, I could write this chapter down! I hope you like it, it was quite a head scratcher for me, but it all turned out :) Hey I still want to ask you to vote for my poll, most people who tell me their opinion directly tell me to write Duck, but the poll says Ahiru, please help me out! So please review and vote, ok?**


	5. 5 Akt Bilder einer Ausstellung: Die K

**AN: Ok guys in the end the poll didn't help much, so I wrote all your requests on a piece of paper.  
And the winner is…. Duck! Yeah!  
As I said to you before I'm ok with both options and I hope that the people who voted for the name Ahiru can respect my choice.  
Now on to the chapter… with my favourite classical music!**

5. Akt ~ Bilder einer Ausstellung: Die Katakomben ~

Rue didn't like to read and information meant nothing to her. The only things she was interested in were the things that mattered now. She had known Mytho for a long time and knew that he was in fact the prince from the famous story, the Prince and the Raven, written by Drosselmayer. It was a fact that Mytho now lived in Gold Crown Town without his heart and that this was unchangeable. It was fate. Rue never bothered to know his past nor she bothered asking questions about the future. Unlike Fakir, Fakir always had a craving for knowledge. When he first met Mytho and learned his secret, he read the Prince and the Raven over and over again to get every detail of his friend's past. It was then that he also learned that the tragedy had become reality and could repeat itself in this town, once the prince were to get his heart back.  
Fakir had been born with a birthmark that showed the death of his former life. It showed the spot were the claws of the monstrous Raven had ripped him apart. If the story was to repeat itself, that same fate would befall Fakir.

As stated before, Rue wasn't a person for reading, which is why it surprised Fakir when he found her in the library the next day.

"What are you reading?" he asked her suspiciously.

"Nothing, it's none of your business." Rue said and she closed the book and Fakir looked over her shoulder to see the cover.

"The Prince and the Raven huh?"

"What?" Rue's reaction was testily, she didn't like to share her thoughts if anyone, but Fakir wanted to know everything that was going on inside her head.

"Seems that you begin to get an interest in the same Mytho as he was in the story, back before he lost his heart."

"Are you implying I'm the one restoring his heart?" Asked Rue amused, like it was too ridiculous to think about.

"Am I wrong then?" Said Fakir, not convinced of her act. She was still acting strange and he was getting sick of her games. But Rue ignored him and made to leave.  
"Hold it!" he warned her and he grabbed her upper arm so firmly that she dropped the book. It fell open to the ground. Rue wasn't shocked nor scared, she looked Fakir straight in the eye and smiled. "What's so funny?" snapped Fakir. For a moment he looked at the open page of the book, on it was an illustration of an old man telling a story to a young boy. The old man was sitting in an armchair and the boy was lying on his belly at his feet. To visualize the story the man was telling, there was a framed picture of a winged princess in the left corner of the page. The boy seemed to look at the winged princess in wonder. Fakir knew that this winged princess was called Princess Tutu.

"What would you do if Princess Tutu really existed?" Asked Rue amused.

"Did something happen?" asked Fakir at once suspiciously.

"No nothing happened." Rue released her arm and walked away and she laughed softly.

What did Rue mean? Was she only playing with his mind or did she know something? It boggled his mind so much that he stopped extra early with his research that day. Rue didn't like having Fakir around, so obviously she wanted him to mind something else. Well, in truth he always had, he had to stop the tragedy from repeating itself and that sometimes was more important than even the happiness of his friend. Rue could never understand, she was too busy creating her own fairy tale to see reality.

Fakir strolled down the school garden to clear his head when he saw something that truly triggered his nerves. The biggest dance rooms in the school had big windows that looked out into the garden, and through one of them Fakir saw Mytho dancing with that noisy persistent redheaded girl he saw too often lately  
"Her again? Damn." He growled and he made the turn towards the school's entrance. The hall ended in two ways and Fakir took the left turn where the left door would lead him to the right room. When he entered the hallway he saw the girl waddling away down the hallway, literally waddling with her butt swinging from left to right and with a mob in her hands.

"She practically is a duck." Fakir said, more to himself but the girl heard him. Instead of turning around to face him, however, she made some sort of quacking sound and said 'cleaning!' before she ran off.  
"Hey!" Fakir called, he didn't really know why he called after her, so he didn't care when she didn't come back. He decided to forget about her and talk to Mytho. When he entered the room, Mytho was as always staring out the window. He turn around and looked at Fakir with a face filled with both sadness and confusion.

"Hi Fakir, I'm glad to see you." He said.

"Don't give me that, what is the meaning of this?" Fakir said. Mytho was dressed as an old-fashioned noblemen, most likely for the Fire Festival. "Dressed in this silly outfit." He added, Mytho looked like a real life doll.

"Rue said to wear it."

"Listen, all you have to do is obey my orders and don't pay any heed to what anyone else tells you, that includes what Rue says!" snapped Fakir, Mytho was forgetting his place and he blamed Rue for that. She had to stop pretending that Mytho did have a heart.  
"So you were dancing?"

"Yes."

"What's with that duck-like girl I see scurrying around lately?"

"She is called Duck, her name is Duck." Explained Mytho and he sounded more serious than ever before, clearly he didn't want Fakir to speak ill of this girl. This didn't interested Fakir in the least.

"I didn't ask for trivial! There's no need to dance with the likes of her, just because she asked."

"That's not what happened." Said Mytho in the same earnest tone. "Rue hadn't come and I've been waiting here all by myself."  
Fakir frowned, he didn't like where this was going.  
"Then Duck came so…"

"Are you saying you _invited_ her to dance?" Asked Fakir testily, he really didn't like where this was going. Then Mytho gave him the dreaded answer, the one word that confirmed all his fears.

"Yes."

Something snapped when Mytho gave him that answer. This was all going the wrong way.  
"Listen. Don't let me repeat myself" He hissed to Mytho and he forced him against the dance bar. "All you need to do is listen to what I tell you. Don't get interested in stupid things. When you were wondering around aimlessly without any memories at all I was the one who found you. I was the one who gave you the name of Mytho and don't ever forget that!"

"Yes." Mytho replied softly.

"You'll stay home, got it?" Fakir saw a sad look in his friend's eyes, he knew that these feelings of his were driving in a rebellious state. Right now Mytho wanted nothing more than to answer to the needs of the few feelings he had, to find more. "Being as you are now is for the best."

"But Rue wants me to dance with her." Said Mytho hesitatingly.

"Forget about Rue!" Fakir snapped, he was losing his grip on Mytho, soon he would no longer listen.

"I have to let her know I can't go."

"Are you defying me?"

"No." Was Mytho's answer, but Fakir didn't believe it.

"Come with me." He said firmly and he dragged Mytho out of the room and out of the school. This left him no choice, Fakir was getting desperate to stop Mytho from getting his heart back and this was the only solution he could think of.  
At the library there were several spacious rooms for old books and chairs. Fakir could lock Mytho in one of them and come to check on him from time to time. If he escaped he would know.  
Mytho didn't resist, but only asked where they were going, but Fakir didn't bother to tell him, it would only rise annoying questions. Once they were in the library, he sent Mytho in one of the rooms and told him to stay there.

"I understand, don't be mad Fakir. Fakir I…" Tried Mytho, but Fakir closed the door and locked it. He had enough of this. Mytho didn't understand anything and this foolishness of his only proved it. He had only locked the door however when he heard someone yell at him. He looked to his left to the end of the hall and saw the same girl he always saw, the duck-like one.

"Punishment?" She said with her hands at her hardly visible hips. "Why must you always do such terrible things?!" Before she had finished her sentence, she had already lounged herself at Fakir. Fakir had not expected it and was easily thrown off his feet. The girl immediately began to pull and push at Mytho's door.

"And you Mytho, Rue is waiting for you. You finally got some shards of you heart back now."

Fakir didn't waste any time, in a second he had his hand firmly closed around the girl's hand and pushed her away. "Shards of his heart?" Fakir repeated, "Your name is Duck right? Just what do you know?"  
"N-nothing." Stuttered the girl and she was trying to look away.

"Come to think of it, you asked me about the Prince and the Raven once. You know, don't you? You know that Mytho is actually a prince from inside the story. Did Rue tell you?"

The girl looked terrified, clearly he had figured her out, but the girl didn't answer any of his questions. 'She knew, but how?' he pushed her roughly against the wall. "Mytho has no need of a heart!" he said to her loudly.

"Has no need of a heart, what are you saying?" Said the girl crossly. "There's no way…"

"And just what do you know?" Yelled Fakir, who wouldn't let her stand her ground. This girl was a nuisance and he wanted her gone. "I know everything about Mytho, what do you know?"

"Sure I may not know anything about Mytho," said the girl with a shaking voice and in her eyes formed tears. " but if he is missing his heart he must not know how to be happy or being in love either."

'This nonsense again?' Fakir thought, he was tired of hearing it. Maybe Rue had something to do with it after all.  
"Forget it!" he snapped. "Even if he regains shards of his heart, I will seal him away. If I shut him away in the darkness, he will became numb even to the dark. Numb to all sensations, he will stop feeling all together.  
That's right! This was Fakir's plan, there was no way back now. 'It all has come too far now.' This girl didn't understand, she only heard his cruel words and started to cry.

"That's, that's just terrible of you!" she cried miserably.

Fakir had only one piece of advice for her: "Don't let your ignorance carry you away."

That evening around dinner time Fakir's rage had ebbed away, he realized now he had been really hard on his friend by letting him stay in that dark room. At the moment Fakir was staying at the water mill, a place where he sometimes came to think. The mill had been abandoned for quite a long time, but it still belonged to his foster father's family, and thus Fakir could use it.  
In his route back to the library, he crossed the square with the dancing town folk, celebrating the Fire Festival. Fakir saw Rue standing in the shadow of the great fire. Mytho had promised to come and dance with her and so she was still waiting for him. Fakir felt a bit sorry for her, but only a little bit. 'Was Rue restoring Mytho's heart? Could she actually be Princess Tutu from the story?' he asked himself, then he remembered her question that morning: 'What would you do if Princess Tutu really existed?'  
Princess Tutu, the only one who could restore Mytho's heart, could it be that she finally had made an appearance and did Rue associate with her? If Princess Tutu had really come, then that meant that the story was becoming reality. 'If that's true, then it is she who is responsible for setting this whole mess in motion, but who is she? Is Rue working with her or is she Princess tutu herself?' Fakir decided to keep an eye on her from now on and he walked on towards the library. When he arrived there, however, he found that Mytho's room was empty.

"Idiot." He sighed, he abandoned the food on one of the tables and went back to the square, for he was certain that Mytho would be there. Maybe he had past him, without knowing it! Fakir didn't walk fast, he wasn't freaked out or worried this time, he was confident. If something should happen tonight, he would see it first-hand this time.

When Fakir arrived at the square again, he saw many people head home and workmen began to clean up the fire. Rue was still standing on the same spot. She had her eyes closed and looked disappointed.  
Fakir stayed in the shadows, behind a wall and kept his eyes on Rue. He had a feeling Mytho would come eventually and maybe Rue would give him a piece of his heart back. Time passed and just as Fakir began to wonder where Mytho could be, he saw Rue turn to leave. She had lost her patience at last, but she stopped dead in her tracks.  
Fakir saw Mytho emerge from the shadows and walked up to her. Rue scowled at him for being late, but Mytho simply took her hand and started to dance with her. It had been very clear, Mytho had decided to dance with Rue of his own free will, just like he had chosen to dance with Duck.  
Just like Fakir, Rue was surprised by this turn of event. Soon she surrendered herself to the joy she felt from dancing with him, but then Mytho did something that scared her off. He smiled at her kindly. Rue who had been smiling and blushing a minute before, now looked scared and slapped Mytho's hand away. She ran away and left Mytho standing there, alone and confused.  
For Fakir this was only a confirmation of what he already believed: Mytho doesn't need a heart. It will only bring unhappiness.

**AN: Tada! Man this was a long chapter, but I really enjoyed writing this, I hope you guys will do too, please review! **


	6. 6 Akt Dornröschen: Prolog

**AN:Hey guys, I want to thank all the guest reviewers, because I can't send them massages. Thank you very much for reviewing!**

**I'd like to say to the last reviewer though that I appreciate her try to correct me, but I looked it up and the correct spelling for the name Drosselmayer is Drosselmayer and I stick to that, but I'm glad that you like the idea of my story. :) **

6. Akt ~Dornröschen: Prolog~

Fakir found Mytho in the early morning in the little tower above their room. It was nice to find Mytho up and not gone for a change. Only he didn't stop asking strange questions every morning. It was as if he thought of them in his sleep.

"I wonder what it is I think of you Fakir." Mytho said.

This was a strange statement, but also alarming. Mytho began to question everything Fakir was trying to accomplish. What if Mytho decided that he didn't need him?

"When I think of Rue, when I think of you Fakir and when I'm thinking of Princess Tutu. Each one makes me feel different, but I don't know what names I should give these emotions. Tell me Fakir, don't I need to know what they are?"

"Stop brooding on nonsense!" said Fakir firmly and he walked up to him. "You listen to me you useless good for nothing-," but fakir stopped the moment he took a hold on Mytho's face. Mytho was shaking, even though his eyes were calm. "What's this? You're trembling."

"Oh." Was the only thing Mytho could say and he continued to watch Fakir with his calm eyes. Fakir released Mytho's face and turned his back on him.

"Come on, it's nearly time for school." He said like nothing had happened. He heard Mytho agree and follow him down to their room.

'It's time to take matters into my own hands.' Thought Fakir as he and Mytho stood on the inner balcony above their ballet class room. Below they could hear Mr Cat announce that the class had been given permission to observe the foreign ballet of The Eleki Group, a touring ballet company. A trip would be a good opportunity for Fakir to observe Rue and maybe find more suspicious figures who could be involved with Princess Tutu, but he couldn't do this with Mytho around. Mytho would only question him and give his thoughts away to the wrong people.  
"Mytho, you go back to your room." He ordered him and Mytho obeyed. After Mytho left Fakir joined the class.

The walk to the theatre was a peaceful one and Fakir allowed himself to breath and let his thoughts go astray. Just like the other members of the special class, he didn't see much use in this trip, but it was nice to do something else for a change. When they arrived, the leading lady named Paulamoni greeted them most kindly and Mr Cat who had been sulking for some reason threw himself at her feet (like he always did with pretty girls and women). Of course he was depressed again after Paulamoni introduced her husband Paulo. First the class got a tour around the theatre and got to see the props and costumes brought by The Eleki Group for their performance of Sleeping Beauty. After this, miss Paulamoni gave them a demonstration of her dancing. While everyone was watching her, Fakir tried to put one and one together.

'Is Rue Princess Tutu? ' he wondered. He watched her from a distance and saw that she was least impressed by Paulamoni's performance. Princess Tutu was said to be an incredible dancer and could dance any ballet dance imaginable. If Princess Tutu had disguised herself as a normal girl, she must be a in the top class, making Rue suspect number one.  
'But why did Mytho's smile frighten her so?' Questioned Fakir his own theory. 'Not to mention, that she enjoyed it very much to recite Princess Tutu's tragic fate, but if she isn't Princess Tutu, who is?' Fakir was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice miss Paulamoni's strange behaviour near the end of her dance, nor did he hear Duck's sudden flight up the stairs in her fright to dance. He only vaguely heard Mr Cat hiss and spit afterwards and try to offer Paulamoni to dance for her instead.

That night Fakir made the decision to let Mytho come with him and the rest of the class to the second field trip the following day, if he promised to ignore everything Rue said. Mytho smiled at him and thanked him sincerely, which gave Fakir mixed feelings. It had been so long since someone thanked him for anything. Fakir had known this unfriendly life for so long and so he was a bit shocked by this sudden change. It was really nice to be thanked for his affords, but this act of kindness would not lure him away from his will to change this story. He would not become like that duck-like brat!  
"Idiot." Fakir mumbled, more to himself than to Mytho, who looked confused again. Once he figured that Fakir would say no more than this, he went to bed. Fakir too went to bed, but he couldn't sleep.  
'Maybe something will happen tomorrow when Mytho comes along. If that happens I will protect him. You watch Princess Tutu, you try and come near him! When I finally meet you I will put a stop to your meddling.' He thought determined.

The following day during The Eleki Group's run-through something peculiar happened. Miss Paulamoni asked Duck once again to dance and this time she said that she wanted to see if she could find out what it is that her performance was lacking. This was absurd. Fakir couldn't care less. He only wondered if she would do it.

"Say Mytho, why won't you partner with her for the Part de Deux?"Said Rue suddenly once Duck stood ready on the stage, dressed in the proper tutu and Fakir thought her being too smiley about it so he went ahead and said:

"No Mytho will stay, I'll go." He didn't feel like dancing with this amateur, but he didn't trust anything Rue said. Of course Duck was not happy with it either and that was pleased him. Like he let her dance with Mytho ever again.  
He stood up, ignored all the whispers around him and followed Paulo to one of the changing rooms where he had to change into the original prince costume from Sleeping Beauty. In another room, In about ten minutes they both walked up the stage and took their positions to begin. Fakir watched calmly while Duck trembled so badly that she could hardly raise her leg properly, let alone gracefully.  
'Rue, what are you thinking?' he thought annoyed as he watched her sit calmly in her seat. They began to dance and Fakir calm but roughly helped her into the right positions throughout the dance.

"Hmpf pathetic." He sneered at her when she got close to him. Duck only growled and pretended not to care, but she couldn't fool him. She was scared and nervous. "Let me take this change to make things clear." He went on.

"What?" snapped Duck back through her teeth, she was still pretending that she had a back-bone.

"Stay away from Mytho."

"Y-you stay away from him!" Duck tried, but she could not scare Fakir, he meant what he said. This girl was a nuisance and it was obvious that she wanted Mytho to retrieve all his heart-shards. The rest of the Part de Deux they talked no more. Until the climax came and Fakir had to give Duck a lift, which was no deal at all. His hands closed entirely around her abnormally thin waist and she was as light as a feather.

'No wonder, she has no brains.' Fakir thought and he used this opportunity to suddenly release her at the last note of the music piece and let her fall.  
"You're an eyesore." He said to her and he walked off the stage, expecting to hear a bang on the ground. But Duck didn't fall at once, she took a few hastily ballet paces to steady herself and ended her dance with a very odd stance, with her right foot flat on the ground and her hands sticking out in the wrong direction. Fakir simply shook his head at this sight and returned to the changing rooms. He took his time changing back into his school uniform. He didn't worry about Mytho, there were plenty of people around him now. Nothing could happen to him unnoticed, but Fakir made a mistake by thinking that and Mytho would pay dearly for it.  
Near the end of their visit, while they were waiting in their seats for Mr Cat to give them permission to leave, Mytho stood suddenly up and started to scream.

"Mytho!" Fakir was shocked, what could have happened.

"A shard has been returned." Explained Rue, she didn't bother to keep her voice down, while Mytho kept on screaming.

"What?" Fakir didn't understand, how could this have happened. But that was not important right now. He stood up and grabbed Mytho by the shoulders, but Mytho didn't calm down and so he carried him out of the theatre.

"Hang on Mytho." Fakir said to Mytho as he made for the exit. "Damn it Princess Tutu."  
On the nearest bridge Fakir let Mytho sit down.

"Calm down." Fakir said to him in a soft voice. "I'm the only one here. What is it Mytho? Are you hurt?"

"N-no Fakir, I'm scared." Mytho whimpered as he sat on all fours.

Fakir closed his hands around his friend's head and let him rest against his chest. "What scares you?"

"Tutu."

Fakir backed away in surprise, did he hear that correctly?

"I'm afraid of Princess Tutu." Mytho said with a clearer voice. He shook from head to toe and his voice continued to tremble while he said this sentence a few times more.  
it was true, Mytho had become afraid of Princess Tutu. Could this be the end of Mytho's attempts to get his heart back? Had Princess Tutu lost?

**AN: Finally! Sorry it took so long, but I had another story and a cover for that story to finish and I have been busy to move my things to The Hague for my study, so that's why.**

**Now on to the next problem: The next chapter will be a really big problem. I never liked episode 7, the stupid music piece, the legend of an annoying child who asks questions, but now I get why it really tired me, Fakir is hardly in it! If I could, I would go straight to episode 8, but I can't do that. If anyone has any idea for the next chapter, please share, because I sit, like we say, with my hands in the hair ( yes we say 'the hair' but it sounds better in Dutch.) **

**Anyway please review and if you have any ideas, let me know! :) **


	7. Akt 7 An der schönen blauen Donau

**AN: Well I got one suggestion and it gave me a wonderful idea, Thank you so much WaterBendingQueen88! It is a little different, but I hope you like my idea. :)**

Akt. 7 ~ An der schönen blauen Donau ~

~ Die Schwanensee ~

Fakir was dancing. It was a peaceful carefree dance in the middle of a misty lake. As light as a feather he danced on top of the surface of the calm water. His life knew no burdens of any kind and his future was a pleasant surprise.

"Say, can I dance too?" asked a soft shy voice.

Fakir turned his head and saw the silhouette of a fragile girl, standing on the right shore of the lake. The mist concealed her features, nevertheless Fakir reached out his hand to her and gave her a sweet smile.  
Hesitatingly, the girl took his hand and stepped on the water, which carried her as easily as it carried Fakir and she allowed him to support her in their Part de Deux.  
It was even better to dance together Fakir realised and the girls 'touch was somehow familiar to him. Her dancing was not very graceful but he heard her laugh of joy whenever he made her do a pirouette or gave her a lift.

'Who could she be?' Fakir wondered and he really wanted to know. It felt so good to dance with her. But the only woman Fakir knew and trusted was Retsel and he never danced with her, on top of that she was too old and too tall to be this girl. Fakir wanted to know the girl's name and tried his very best to see her face whenever she danced with him. But the dance kept driving them apart and Fakir began to feel a great sadness whenever she was not holding his hand. Her absents made him realise how messed up his life really was, how unsure his survival in the future was and what heavy burdens fate had put onto his shoulders. Fakir began to feel gloomy again.

'No one can be trusted, I have to do this on my own. I am Mytho's only hope.' The girl danced now before him, but still he couldn't see her face. 'Damn this fog! Please who are you? Can you stay with me?' Fakir just couldn't ask her these questions, something made him forget how to speak. The girl laughed no more and began to dance further away from him. Then she suddenly stopped dancing, she stood still for a moment then she curtsied, turned around and ran away.

"Hey wait!" Fakir had found his voice back, but it was too late, the girl was gone and so was his feeling of relieve and happiness.

"Fakir?"

Fakir opened his eyes and saw his right hand reaching up to the brown wooden ceiling of the watermill.

"Fakir?" Mytho repeated from his bed on the other side of the house. "Is something wrong?"

"No." Fakir closed his eyes again and laid his right arm on his forehead. "It's nothing. " He listened to his heartbeat that steadily became normal again. "What did I just dream?' he wondered, but he just couldn't remember.

A week had passed since their visit to the theatre and Princess Tutu's attack. Fakir and Mytho stayed in the old watermill, where no one would go looking. No one knew of Fakir's access to the old abandoned house. Here he made Mytho stay in the hope that he would forget Princess Tutu and all his worries. Hopefully his stay would here would be the end of Mytho's hope to retrieve the rest of his heart.  
Fakir was not the only one who had strange dreams. That same day, Mytho woke up screaming and sweating. Fakir happened to be near and rushed to his friend's sleeping place, on a pile of pillows in the corner of the living room. Fakir placed his hand on Mytho's head and the other on his shoulder in an afford to calm him down. "Snap out of it Mytho." He said to him firmly and Mytho opened his eyes with a start. "Calm down," Fakir said, "what is it?"

"Fakir, I had a dream," Mytho breathed. "there was a gigantic black being and it was.."

"Don't worry." Fakir told him. It was not the first time Mytho had a nightmare, it was a result of that new heart-shard. The feeling of fear.

"Who was that?" asked Mytho scared.

Fakir knew all too well 'who' Mytho meant. It was the Raven from the story. This feeling of fear made Mytho remember some things from his past, but Fakir would not explain it to him. It was better for Mytho not to know.  
"Don't trouble yourself, you don't need to know anything, got it?"

"Where's Tutu?" Mytho asked suddenly. Fakir couldn't believe it, after all this Mytho still wondered about her.

"Relax," Fakir said, "no one knows we're here." He walked to the little table with a tankard filled with hot tea and poured some for Mytho into a small cup.

"I can't see Tutu?"

"That's right." Said Fakir annoyed and he took the cup to Mytho. "If you stay here, you will eventually forget everything. You won't be let astray by those emotions either, that's what best for you."

Mytho stayed quiet after that. So quiet it was almost like Fakir was alone in the mill. Around midday he couldn't stand the silent wonderings about his dream anymore and decided to go for a walk.

"Mytho, I'm go out for a bit. You stay here." Fakir told Mytho when he was already at the door.

"Ok Fakir." Muttered Mytho, he hadn't moved from his bed and it was not likely that he would do that soon. Fakir just gave him a nod and left.  
It was very peaceful outside and Fakir was planning to go on a long walk to clear his head. Never before had he been so upset about a dream. Only pieces of it had come back to him now, but the lonely miserable feeling at the end of it stayed with him. 'What was the meaning of it?'

"May those who accept their fate be granted happiness, may those who defy it, granted glory." Sang a misty voice behind him. Fakir wheeled around and saw the strange woman called Edel, emerging from the shadows of the trees.

"Are you still wondering, Fakir?" she asked him in her soft misty voice. "The answer is not that hard to find."

"Who are you?" Demanded Fakir. He wondered if she was indeed talking about his dream, but how could she know?

"I already told you, I am Edel." Edel replied simply. "I would advise you not to forget yourself along the way. A lost person cannot hope to find the way home for somebody else."

"What do you mean?" asked Fakir, now in a much calmer tone. It was no use yelling at this person, it was almost as if she was made of ice and she would continue her little riddles anyway.

"Why are you in such sadness?" she asked him suddenly.

"What are you talking about, I'm not sad!" cried Fakir startled.

"But you aren't happy either, are you?"

Fakir relaxed a bit, he knew she was right. So he let her speak.

"Do not forsake yourself. What you need, is a friend. You admitted it yourself in your dream. Together is better than alone."

"No, I will protect Mytho by myself. There's no one I can trust. No one!"

Edel gave a little sigh and looked disappointed, but Fakir didn't care. It was not in his mind to please her.

"Your friends are closer than you think, try to see them." Edel said, then she reached inside her pocket and hold out a necklace with two hearts for Fakir to see.

"What's that?" asked Fakir not very interested.

"It is a gem called Courage and it is made of two. Tell me Fakir, do you have enough courage to see to this alone?"

"Of course!" Fakir snapped and he turned to leave, but then he faced her again and asked: "That girl in my dream, who is she?"

Edel smiled. "Someone who will become very precious to you in due time."

Fakir nodded, he knew he would get no more information than this and that didn't matter. "Thank you." He said and he walked back to the mill.

When he entered the mill, Mytho had gone again, so Fakir went out to find him. It was already late when he returned after a fruitless search and there Mytho lay, on the floor just inside the house.

"Mytho! Mytho get a hold of yourself!" Fakir cried and he stooped down to help his friend up when he saw something black lying on the floor. A black feather. Fakir picked it up and held it in front of his eyes.

"I see, so you finally made an appearance." He muttered. This could only mean one thing: The Raven had returned.

That night Fakir couldn't get to sleep. He wanted to re-enter his dream, but only saw images of the monstrous Raven when he closed his eyes.  
Finally he found himself in the middle of the lake. It was still very misty around him. He looked around, but couldn't see the girl. Like before, his voice appeared to be missing, so he started to dance on his own. Just like he had done the last time.

Suddenly he heard a movement in the water and when he turned he saw the girl. He still couldn't see her face properly, but her eyes shone brilliantly blue and cut through the fog. Fakir wanted to tell her how much he wanted to see her, but it was no use, he couldn't speak. Just like last time he smiled at her, but now he didn't wait for her to take his hand, but took it. The girl didn't object and came closer. When she stood right in front of him, Fakir found his voice back.

"Who are you?" He asked, but the girl shook sadly her head. 'Now she couldn't speak? What's up with this place?' Thought Fakir in frustration. It just couldn't be helped and so they started to dance. The girl smiled and her touch felt warm and true. Just when Fakir had stopped to wonder about her, it came suddenly to him, but it couldn't be and he tried to push the thought away. This was ridiculous! But still it was true…. It was Duck.

**AN: Dadahh! I hope you liked this little invention of mine, like I said the main idea was given to me and I watched the next few episodes to make it fit in the future. Please review! **


	8. 8 Akt Fantasie Ouvertüre zu Romeo u

8. Akt. ~ Fantasie Ouvertüre zu "Romeo und Julia" ~

Fakir forgot his dreams and Duck after he had found Mytho on the floor in the watermill and saw the black feather beside him. He changed his plan and brought Mytho back with him to the academy. He had succeeded in bringing Mytho in without anyone noticed it.  
However, the annoying elements of the school came back soon enough. Early in the morning, little stones were thrown at their window. It was Duck.

"Her again?" Fakir knew it for sure, this girl was annoying beyond reason. This girl didn't know anything and still she insisted on poking her nose in Mytho's business. In the end she gave up and left the window alone.

"Hmpf, persistent girl." Said Fakir. At that moment he seemed to have woken Mytho, because he began to speak quite suddenly.

"So you were awake?" said Fakir. He wondered what Mytho was thinking, that was no longer clear to him.

"Where's Tutu?" Mytho asked. There was something new in his voice. First he had been uncertain, whenever he mentioned her name, but now he began to sound more eager by the day. This was getting old and so Fakir ignored it.

"Don't worry," he said. "Tutu is long gone. What happened?"

"Tutu helped me." Mytho said. This came as a surprise to Fakir. Wasn't he scared of her anymore? "She tried to restore my heart to me." Mytho went on.

"Mytho, you know.." Fakir began, he had hoped that Mytho had finally understood the danger he was getting himself into, but..

"That's when Kreahe came." Mytho continued and suddenly he looked scared again.

"Kreahe?" Fakir asked surprised. 'Who is Kreahe? Didn't the Raven show up?'

"Yes, she was dressed like a black bird and she took the piece. Tell me Fakir, wouldn't it be better if I regained all the pieces of my heart?"

Fakir had enough, he put his hand over Mytho's eyes and pushed him back upon his pillow. "Forget about it." He said firmly. "Listen to me, I brought you back here with me because I fought it safer to have people around. Burry your worries and sleep."

Later that morning, they set off for school. Fakir found himself a few feet behind Mytho while they entered the school grounds. He was still plagued by those strange dreams he had. 'What did they mean? Do I need someone after all? Ridiculous, I'm not that weak!'  
Suddenly Fakir's stubborn thoughts were disturbed by the mention of the name he hater the most, Princess Tutu. Fakir was walking over the inner bridge that connected the other academies with each other and he saw Mytho standing below in the garden. He was taking to Duck.

"What are you doing?" Fakir asked testily when he jumped off the bridge and landed right between Mytho and that girl. She made a surprised noise and Fakir looked at her.

'Duck, there's no way she is the one from my dreams.' He thought. Duck startled from his look and looked very scared.

"Mytho, you go ahead, I'll be right there." He said to Mytho

"Ok." said Mytho and he left immediately. Of course did Duck watch him go, why did she bother with other people's business?

"Now you." He said and he crossed his arms in annoyance.

"Yes!" cried Duck startled and she turned hastily to him.

Fakir gave her a vile look. 'No, I will never need her!' he told himself and he closed his eyes for a few seconds. "You're such an eyesore." he said to her. "Listen carefully, never come near Mytho again. If you do, I'll make sure you pay for it."

Duck looked terrified and her knees began to shake. Fakir let her cower and walked away. 'She better be afraid.' He thought. 'It is good that she takes my threat seriously.'

His threat turned out to be too successful, he didn't see her through all their morning classes. Not that it bothered him, she was no good a dancer anyway and she and her friends were always so loud and obnoxious. But Fakir's break didn't last long, soon the morning classes were over, and _she _would be back soon. Just to enjoy his last moments of peace, he decided to have his lunch outside.

That afternoon he found an unexpected guest in his locker. A little duck that was sitting on his clothes and it looked rather confused. This duck had nothing to do with his dislike of Duck the girl, so he took it gently out of his locker, along with his clothes. Of all things, an iguana-student had entered the changing room before Fakir did and iguana's eat ducks. Nonchalantly he hid the duck between his clothes and walked out of the room.  
Outside, he carefully placed the duck on the grass and gave it some of his lunch-bread to eat. It felt good to be around a sweet innocent animal that had nothing to do with his messed up life.

"You're so stupid, there's no way you're going to find any food in there." He said kindly to the duck and he gave it a friendly smile. "I guess you wouldn't have wandered in if you knew."

The duck seemed to stare at him, then t suddenly began to eat very fast. It made Fakir laugh before he even realised it. "You sure eat a lot." He said and he stood up to leave. As he went he threw his last piece of bread to the duck and said: "Hurry home, don't come around here anymore." Not that the duck could understand him, but you never knew it for sure in this town.

He met up with Mytho and trouble immediately rose again.  
"What's that? He asked Mytho as he took a piece of paper out of Mytho's hand.

"Duck says that she's got something to tell me." Mytho answered calmly.

Fakir was speechless. 'so now she is going to bug us through letters instead?' Then he looked down at the letter and read it.

I'll be waiting in the school's backyard at five o'clock this evening.

Duck

"Did that girl not hear what I said to her?" Fakir mumbled 'She's not scared easily after all.'  
"Throw it away, there's no need to go." Fakir gave Mytho the letter back and walked away, expecting Mytho to follow his instructions, but he didn't.

"No." Mytho said.

Fakir was surprised and turned around, but he managed to keep his cool. "What?"

"I have chosen to go, Fakir."

"You're kidding right?" Fakir said to Mytho with a sceptical smile and he walked back to him.

"I mean it." Mytho said.

"What point is there?" Fakir wanted to know. Still he managed to keep his patience in check. That girl gave Mytho all kinds of strange idea's.

"Maybe there's something she can tell me about Tutu."

"Who, Duck?"

"Yes."

"Moron, there's no way she can know."

"But.." Mytho tried.

"Don't get involved with Tutu. Her existence will only bring you unhappiness in the end, don't be fooled." Fakir told him straight out. "And on top of that, you have that Kreahe chasing after you right now."

"I don't care." Mytho mumbled.

"If I tell you no, it's no. you got that!" Fakir yelled. He was no longer able to keep his anger under control. He didn't care that they were in the common room where everybody could hear them. Mytho had to listen to reason.

"No." Said Mytho again.

Nothing Fakir was saying seemed to come through, it made him panic and in frustration he slapped Mytho across his face. Immediately afterwards, Fakir realised what he had down and tried to apologise, but Mytho ignored his apology and walked away.

"I am going." He said.

Still shaken from what he just had done, Fakir grasped his left shoulder from where his birth-mark began. "So I am no longer able to stop Mytho with words." He said bitterly.

It was time to carry out the back-up plan. It was extreme, but such methods were now required. It was his only chance to stop the story from becoming reality. He went home immediately and changed his school uniform for a dark hooded cape. No one should recognise him in the darkest aisles of Gold Crown Town. He knew of a hidden passage that led to a hidden staircase to the secret catacombs. In one of the coffins lay Mytho's legendary sword that once shattered his heart. Yes, this was the only way he could safe Mytho from his miserable fate, by piercing his heart once again.  
His footsteps echoed upon the stone steps of the spiral staircase, but it didn't bother him. No one ever came down here. The underground space was entirely made of cold stone and there were skulls and bones everywhere. It was a dreaded place, but Fakir had only eyes for his goal and wasn't bothered by it.  
Finally he reached the right coffin and moved its heavy lid aside. Inside were the prince's sword and a mask. Fakir took the sword and the mask and carried them out of the catacombs. There was an old incantation required to restore the sword to its former glory. Fakir had studied the ancient words for years and knew it by heart. He halted at a fountain that's stood nearby. As he stood before the streaming fountain, he began to chant and as he spoke he released the sword from its container and cut his own hand with it. He let his blood intermingle with the water and it became pitch black. Then he lowered the sword into the black water and the black liquid crawled up and into the blade. Fakir raised the sword out of the water and with a swinging movement he lifted the sword high above his head and then brought it down in front of him. The black liquid burst off the sword and the blade shone anew. Fakir turned it in hand, before his eyes. He was ready.  
He place the mask on his face and headed for the school ground. His quest had taken him to the other side of the town and he had wasted a lot of time with that ritual. He had to hurry.

When he arrived, he heard an unfamiliar voice up ahead by the old arbour. It was a low melodious voice from a young woman. Fakir quickly sneaked behind a thick tree. He saw Mytho standing a few feet from the arbour and a girl danced with him, she was wearing a black dress with black feathers.

'Is that Kreahe? The one who is dressed like a black bird?' Fakir wondered. The girl whispered sweet words into Mytho's ear with her low voice. Fakir now looked at the arbour. Just inside its entrance stood another girl. She was wearing a white dress and had little yellow wings on her back. Her reddish hair was tucked in a band of white feathers.  
'Princess Tutu, finally I can stop you in person. Only I can protect Mytho.' Fakir thought.

He heard Kreahe say that she was planning on giving Mytho's heart-shards to the crows. Princess Tutu gave a scream and rushed to Mytho's aid. Fakir came out of his hiding place and threw himself between the two girls and Mytho. As soon as he secured Mytho's safety he aimed his sword at the two girls who were now standing next to each other.

"That's the prince's sword." Said the girl in black and she looked angry.

"So, you're Kreahe?" Fakir asked her directly.

"How dare you address me filth..!" She said and she jumped up elegantly to attack him.

But two could play that game. Fakir jumped up as well and raised his sword against her. "Are you the raven's manifest?" He asked in return. They met in mid-air, each one had struck a blow at the other. Fakir felt the heat of a strong blow at his left eye, but the mask had protected it. He had tried to cut Kreahe's side, but he didn't know if he had succeeded. He turned in the air and landed perfectly fine on the ground. He could just see the black wind disappear as the black princess made her escape and something red fell from the sky and landed somewhere between the trees.

"The shard!" cried princess tutu in vain.

"It's no use, Princess Tutu." Fakir said and the hate he felt towards her was clear in his voice.

"Who are.." Princess Tutu began, but she didn't need to finish her question nor did Fakir need to answer it. His mask cracked and it broke in two, revealing the left side of his face. He threw away the useless pieces and walked to Mytho.

"Sorry you had to wait Mytho. It's alright, you don't have to suffer."

"What are you doing?" Princess Tutu asked, but Fakir ignored her.

"Sit down." He said and Mytho obeyed. "I'll set things right, I'll shatter your heart for you once again."

"What?" Princess Tutu gasped.

"And you will not stop me Princess Tutu!" Fakir yelled and he raised his sword, but the princess was quick and she blocked his attack with her magic fan.

"You Fakir? You shattered Mytho's heart? Why would you do such an awful thing?" she said.

'Awful she says? She really doesn't know anything!' Fakir thought. How she knew his name was not important. "If you hadn't shown up, then none of this should have happened." He said.

Princess Tutu seemed to be confused by this and she backed away, allowing Fakir to take a few steps forward. This time he aimed his attack at her. She looked terrified but readied her fan to block his attack again.

"Fakir stop it!" It was Mytho who had yelled and Fakir found himself saying 'prince-' Whether he wanted to say 'Princess Tutu' or 'prince', he didn't know. He let go off his sword and it fell loudly on the ground, but Mytho picked it up.

"Is it all my fault?" he asked softly. "If I pierce my heart, would that satisfy you Fakir?"

"That's right, then you will return to your old self." Fakir said.

"Allright." Mytho said and he kneeled down and laid the point of the sword at his chest.

"Mytho, don't do it!" Princess Tutu yelled. "You rather be without a heart?"

"Do it! Quickly, pierce your heart!" Fakir yelled encouragingly.

"Mytho, please don't." Princess Tutu begged, she wanted to go to him and stop him, but Fakir grabbed her by her arms and forced her down.

"Do it now!" he pressed on.

"No."

"Do it!"

"NOOOOOOO!" Princess Tutu yelled at the top of her lungs. "The other day you smiled remember? When I saw that I thought this must be the real you. I believe that when your heart is fully restored, you're able to show even more of yourself, because that's the real you!"

Mytho had listened to Tutu's speech with wide open eyes and he loosened his grip on the sword's handle. But the princess let her head hang in sorrow and she began to sob. "I'm sorry." She said and a few tears fell from her cheeks to the ground. Fakir watched them fall with pity in his heart and his anger at the princess ebbed away. He had always seen Princess Tutu as an thoughtless nuisance, who brought disaster without knowing it, but all that had been completely wrong. Fakir released her and stood up.

"I see, so this is the path you have chosen." He said and he walked away.  
'So there is really nothing I can do after all.'

**AN: And I was afraid this chapter might be short! I forgot how much happens in episode 8, next up is episode 9 with my favourite Mussorgsky piece: ****Atle schloss****. :) Please review! **


	9. 9 Akt Bilder einer Ausstellung: Das A

9. Akt ~Bilder einer Ausstellung: Das Alte Schloss ~

He found himself standing in front of the old fountain again. The fountain in which he performed the ancient ritual to revive Mytho's sword.

"With this hand I tried to pierce Mytho's heart." Fakir said to himself as if he tried to recall something he had done unconsciously, but he had been conscious and he had been willing to do it that time. Now it all seemed like betrayal to him. "On the grounds by doing so, that would be in Mytho's best interest, but if Mytho wishes to regain his heart. What can I do? Now that nothing I can do can stop him. Is there really nothing that remains for me? Other than staying by his side and accepting my fate without trembling." At that moment he realised with a shock that his hands were shaking. 'Trembling?'

'Am I the one who's afraid?" Fakir walked just randomly through the town. He was not planning on going to school today, he had to clear his head. He had allowed Mytho to go, though. Now that Mytho had regained some pieces of his heart he did as he pleased anyway.  
Fakir decided to go to an old bookstore where he sometimes came when he wanted look things up in secret. It was a small shop and behind the counter sat an old man with large eyes and a broad mouth that sometimes croaked into a creepy grin.

"You again, huh?" he croaked. "Come to read that book?"

Fakir didn't answer him and entered the room at back of the shop. In the back of the shop lay a vast collection of old books. Most of them could also be found in the school's library, but some books were only stocked here. Fakir took the book he was looking for from the shelf and placed it on the little table in the room. He lit the lamp on the table and started to page through the book.

"Ridiculous, The Prince and the Raven," Fakir muttered. "the story that is written here is Mytho's tale. The story of a foolish prince who tries to protect the weak, but only ended up hurting himself and losing his heart. That's all."

"May those who accept their fate be granted happiness, may those who defy it be granted glory." Someone said suddenly.

"You.." Fakir reacted surprised. It was the woman Edel. She suddenly stood before him and laid her hand on his and together with him she turned the next page of the book. "The story is continuing, the story is alive." She said and Fakir looked down at the picture on the open page. It was a drawing of the knight being ripped in two by the claws of the Raven.

"Are you saying, this is my fate?" he asked. She used to tell him that he could defy his fate, was that no longer possible, now that the story had already been set in motion?

Edel gave a little sigh and looked sympathetic. "Is it sad for Mytho? For Rue? For Duck? Or for..?"

Fakir looked up surprised. What did she mean? Why would it be sad for Rue or for Duck? But Edel had disappeared once again and his questions remained unanswered. In the end, his visit hadn't done anything to help him and so he decided to go to another place that was connected with his fate. The Art museum with that strange painting.

The museum was almost deserted and Fakir was happy to find it that way. The painting of the town in its snow globe with the four characters from the Prince and the Raven around it hung forlornly on a wall with no other paintings around. This gave it a grim impression, but also a title of great importance.

"Ridiculous." Fakir muttered again and he nonchalantly put his hands in his pockets. He looked at the princess at the top of the painting. 'Princess Tutu, why did you appear?' A feeling of hate towards her rose up inside his chest. When he let go off her and let her restore yet another piece of Mytho's heart last night, he had been thrown off his guard by her beauty and innocent act. He blamed himself for that now. Mytho had fallen for her tricks too and it was too late now. Fakir looked at the Raven on the princess' right side.  
'A perfect possession, maybe Princess Tutu works with the Raven and Kreahe is just a decoy.' He thought, but he still couldn't figure out what that little duck had to do with the story nor why it was wearing a crown. He looked at the knight. Unlike the knight in the book, he wasn't being slaughtered. This version of the knight seemed to be attacking the Raven.  
'Does this mean that I have a chance after all? Or is it saying that, even if I fight, it's fatal?' Fakir didn't know. What if he really wasn't needed? 'Can Mytho survive this tragedy without me?'  
The prince in the painting was dancing and had turned away from the town and his fighting protector. 'What does that mean? Who drew this?'

"It doesn't matter, it's just a painting." Fakir stubbornly said and he turned away to leave. He had completely lost track of time, he didn't know how long he had been staring at that painting. And for what? In the end it had made him feel even worse. Mytho wanted to regain his heart even though it would bring him pain. His ignorance made him reckless and now he believed everything Princess Tutu told him. Fakir recalled some of Mytho's questions and remarks regarding his heart and Princess Tutu.

"Mytho is changing into…. a Mytho that I don't know." Fakir said forlornly as he walked further away from the museum and towards the boy's dormitory.

"That is something that cannot be helped!" said someone firmly. Fakir looked to his right and saw Mr Cat and Miss Goatette sitting at a table outside the pizzeria. 'The way we think about things is worlds apart." Mr Cat said and he took a bite from his piece of pizza while Miss Goatette nibbled on the menu. "As you can see even what we eat is quite different, it is for these reasons that I do not wish to marry you," He stood up and he firmly slammed his paws on the top of the table. "and so I have no intention of changing my will!"

'My will,' Fakir thought and he felt suddenly inspired. 'that's right, I can change my fate because my will stays the same!' This gave him great strength and he headed back to the school to look for Mytho and quickened his pace. It was not long before he could see the main building of the campus doming up ahead of him. Then an alarming noise made him stop dead in his tracks. Crows, they formed an enormous black cloud and headed for the Art building, at the left of the Academy's main building.

"What's this?" Fakir mumbled somewhat intrigued. This was not good, something bad was happening in the Art building and so Fakir ran as fast as he could towards the building and sneaked behind it to look for a window. He found one quickly around the corner and it was low to the ground, but not low enough. Fakir hid himself behind it and looked through it. He saw Mytho and Princess Tutu, standing close to the door in a very spacy room. Princess Tutu seemed to be talking to someone close to the ground and Fakir couldn't see who it was, but he didn't have to.

"That useless Princess Tutu," He growled. 'she is just talking to that crow. Pathetic." Fakir stood up and took a few steps back to create a run-up. He braced himself and ran right to the window and crashed through it. He managed to protect his body from the broken pieces of glass, but at the same time took one as a weapon. When he landed in the room he immediately turned towards Kreahe who was sitting on the floor and pointed the sharp piece of glass at her.

"Be gone you ugly crow!" he yelled. No more games, this time he would have her!

**AN: I thought it better to end chapter here, because they pretty much repeat it in the next episode. I'm sorry I could not make much of this one, but the next one is the Cinderella chapter and I myself am really looking forward to that one!**

**Please review!**


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